Women alcoholics--are they different from other women?

Research to date suggests that the woman who becomes alcoholic is conflicted and ambivalent about being a woman. Yet, most of the alcoholism literature is based on men's lives; theories about why women drink are offshoots of theories about male drinking behavior. There have been no studies reported considering alcoholic women from a normal developmental perspective. This study investigates the psychological aspects of perceptual dependence, level of ego development, and female sex role perceptions in a group of alcoholic women in comparison to nonalcoholic women similar to them. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.